Video: Samurai Pumpkin Cloak: How Japanese Warriors Escaped Enemy Arrows
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Japan is a country that is difficult for Europeans to understand. The Japanese have a lot of their own traditions, which do not at all overlap with the traditions of other peoples. Special traditions in the Land of the Rising Sun also existed in military armor. They were not only special, but also had various useful functions that were difficult for the uninitiated to guess. One of these unusual items - cloak good, in which the samurai went into battle.
Ornate helmets, family insignia, and other unique ammunition were popular among both the bushi, elite warriors who served for a fee to the emperor or shoguns, and among samurai warriors whose lives "belonged" to the shoguns. The difference between these two types of soldiers was mainly socio-economic - samurai were "quoted" higher than bushi, but both had a high status in society.
An unusual addition to the artsy Japanese armor was goodworn by bushi riders as early as the Kamakura period in 1185-1333. It was a special silk cloak that was attached to the back of the helmet and to the waist. During the movement, it inflated like a balloon, forming an air gap between the fabric and the soldier's back.
Horo was usually about 2 meters long and was made from several strips of silk fabric woven together and decorated with a warrior's coat of arms.
The silk was strong enough to bounce arrows shot at a warrior's back. And if the arrow nevertheless pierced the silk, then it simply fell into this air gap, and not into the back. Soon the bushi improved the horo by filling them with lightweight fabrics.
An even more interesting solution was found by Hatakeyama Kayama Masanaga in the years 1467-1477 - he invented a ribbed whalebone frame known as "oikago", which was used to constantly hold the horo in an "inflated" position. Gradually, more and more complex horos began to appear, which also inflated and forward, covering the horse's head. They could look somewhat comical, as if a rider was galloping with a huge pumpkin over his shoulders.
These unusual cloaks also had a mystical meaning. They were worn to prevent evil forces from interfering with the bushi mission. Moreover, it was recommended that bushi be worn well in combat. If a warrior died in battle, then, as the Japanese poet Hosokawa Fujitaka wrote, the enemy who defeated him had to use a horo to wrap the severed head of a bushi in it. This made it possible to identify the identity of the fallen in battle and bury his body accordingly.
When the warrior could no longer fight and knew he was going to die on the battlefield, he cut the cord horo and fastened that cord to a hook on his helmet. This showed that the warrior would no longer resist.
With the advent of gunpowder, the horo was no longer usable. Currently, such "cloaks against arrows" can be seen in museums.
And in continuation of the topic more 10 little-known facts about samurai that are silent in literature and cinema … It will be interesting not only for fans of Japanese culture and history.
Recommended:
The feat of Mikhail Devyatayev, a Soviet pilot who escaped from a Nazi concentration camp on an enemy plane
Many pilots of the Great Patriotic War were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But Lieutenant Mikhail Devyatayev accomplished a feat that really has no equal. A brave fighter escaped from Nazi captivity on a plane that he captured from the enemy
Right now, I'll give you a pumpkin! Pumpkin art right for Halloween
Sculptures, paintings, photographs, creative architecture, art objects in the interior … All this is undoubtedly very beautiful and requires close attention, but how could we forget about the most relevant art, which is usually remembered at the end of October? We are talking about such art as artistic pumpkin carving, or about Pumpkin art, as it is called where Halloween is celebrated on a special scale, and everything, from small to large
Pumpkin Wonders: Unusual Paintings at the Slindon Pumpkin Festival
Pumpkin is rightfully considered the queen of summer cottages, because it has excellent taste and useful properties. However, in the small English town of Slindon, she is valued not only for these qualities. The annual Pumpkin Festival is held here, and the rich harvest becomes the material for creating whimsical pictures. Tourists from Germany, Japan and even distant Australia come to look at the "melon miracles"
When the pumpkin turns into a lamp. Pumpkin lamps by Calabarte
Have you summoned the good fairy? More precisely, a "good fairy" named Przemislav (Przemek) from Poland, who with one … well, a few dozen hand movements can turn a pumpkin into an amazing, stunningly beautiful table or wall lamp. There are no analogues and will never be, since all this is manual and very painstaking work. On the Internet, Przhemek's works are known under the brand name Calabarte
"Cloak of Conscience" - a symbol of the immaterial spirit: History hiding under an empty cloak
In the very center of the Czech capital, at the entrance to the old Prague Estates Theater, there is an unusual sculpture that attracts attention with its mystery and mysticism. "Cloak of Conscience" - "Commendatore" (2000) - a symbolic monument from bronze, the famous artist of our time, sculptor Anna Chromie (1940) .. The mysterious story hidden under the "Cloak of Conscience" further in the review